Little Harry Potter
by reach4thesky
Summary: What was Harry Potter's life like before he started recieving the Hogwarts Letters? Unfortunately, none of these characters are mine. They all belong to her majesty JK Rowling.
1. Chapter 1

Little Harry Potter

**Chapter One**

"Wake up Harry!" screamed Dudley through the keyhole of the cupboard under the stairs. "It's my birthday! Time to open presents!"

Groaning, Harry sat up and groggily reached to put on his glasses. Indeed, it was Dudley's fifth birthday and time for him to open the twenty or more gifts from his parents. Harry quickly pulled on shorts and a t-shirt and stomped out of the cupboard and into the kitchen where his pig of a cousin was already three packages into the stack of presents taller than he was. "Hi," he said, sitting down in a chair, hoping for the warm greeting that would never come.

"Where are your manners?" grumbled his Uncle Vernon, "You know it's our Dudders' special day. Wish him happy birthday!"

"Happy birthday Dudley," said little Harry, looking at the floor. "Here's your present. I made it all by myself." He shyly held out the messily wrapped gift. Dudley grabbed it roughly and ripped off the paper to reveal a picture of two boys, one rather large, labeled "Dudley," and a skinny one, labeled "Harry."

"I don't like it Mommy," whined Dudley, crumpling it up and throwing it aside. "Make him get me something better!"

"Of course Duddykins," crooned Aunt Petunia. Then, turning to Harry, "Why couldn't you get your cousin a decent gift Harry?"

"I'm sorry Aunt Petunia," he said, beginning to cry, "I didn't have any money. I did the best I could."

"Stop your crying," barked Uncle Vernon, "and go sit in time out. Think about how you could have ruined your favorite cousin's birthday."

Harry went back to his cupboard. _It's not fair, _he thought. _They're so mean to me._ Little Harry began to get angry at how unfair it was that nobody appreciated how hard he had worked on Dudley's present. All of a sudden he heard a crash from the other room. It was followed by three more, and a scream from Aunt Petunia. Harry crept into the kitchen to see what was happening. It looked like Petunia's crystal glasses had fallen off the shelf, narrowly missing Dudley's head. He giggled a little at this, and Uncle Vernon looked up.

"What'd you do boy?"

"Nothing!"

"Then how do you think these glasses fell off the shelf? Do you think they jumped off by themselves?" Vernon was yelling now.

"I don't know," Harry said softly. "Maybe it was magic." Petunia shrieked at this, and Dudley went to hide behind his mother.

"THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS MAGIC!" Harry's uncle roared, turning about four shades of purple.

"I-i-i-I'm sorry," squeaked Harry, his eyes filling with tears once more. "I was just joking."

"That is nothing to joke about you ungrateful child. Now you go to your room and don't come out until dinner!" reprimanded Aunt Petunia. Crying again, Harry went back to his cupboard and sat down.

Harry parents had died in a car accident that left him with only a scar on the forehead when he was one year old and, being his only known family, the Dursleys grudgingly took him in. Vernon was a beefy man with a large moustache, and Petunia was scrawny, with beady eyes and a long neck, which was frequently used for spying on her neighbors. Dudley, his cousin, was a whale of a kid. By the time he turned four, he weighed almost one hundred pounds. His parents doted on him every chance they got, while Harry was given hand-me-down clothes and noticeably smaller portions of food. Dudley and his friends loved to pick on Harry. They would steal and break the few toys that he had and then they would call him names such as "Four-eyes," or "Scar-head." Meanwhile, the Dursleys looked at him as a waste of money and an annoyance, though four-year-old Harry Potter wanted nothing more than his mommy and daddy who loved him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

In his cupboard, Harry played with his hand-me-down building blocks that Dudley had broken or colored on and forgotten about. He built a magical castle full of wizards and witches, wishing that there really was such a place. Eventually little Harry got tired and lay down to take a nap.

_He was running as fast as he could, but the monster was catching up. It looked like a human with a snake's face. He had a magic wand and was shooting green light out of it right and left. Suddenly, Harry saw his parents, James and Lily, ahead of him. He knew he would be safe if he could just get to them. "Mommy!" he yelled, finally reaching her. He hid behind his mom and dad from the evil thing chasing him. _

_It caught up to the family hissing at James to step aside. He refused, blocking the evil creature from both his wife and his son. "Step aside James," it hissed. When James refused, the creature pointed his wand at Harry's dad and whispered something. Lily screamed as a green beam of light shot out of its wand, killing James on the spot. "You're next Lily," it said. _

"_Just don't hurt my son! Please!" Lily begged, but the creature just laughed and sent a second jet of light from his wand, killing Harry's mother as well. _

Harry awoke from his nightmare screaming both of fright and of the searing pain in his forehead that seemed to emanate from his scar.

Harry's screams were interrupted by the gruff voice of Uncle Vernon through the keyhole. "Stop your blubbering! Don't you know it's Dudley's birthday party? Have some respect!"

"I had a bad dream! There was a scary monster chasing me with a magic wand!" Harry replied, still trying to catch his breath.

"How many times do I have to tell you? We do not use the 'M' word in this house!"

Harry heard Vernon's footsteps as he turned to leave and called out tentatively, "Uncle Vernon?"

"What?"

"May I please have some birthday cake?"

"No." And with that Harry's uncle stomped off, leaving him alone again.

Harry was confused about his dream because he knew his parents died in a car crash. But it seemed so real. And why did his head hurt?


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

The next day at recess, Dudley and his friends were playing soccer on the playground.

"Can I play?" asked Harry, coming up to the smallest, and least scary, of Dudley's friends.

"Sure four eyes," sneered one of the bigger ones, "why don't you be goalie?" Harry overlooked the mean remark because he was overjoyed. He had never been allowed to play with them before, much less such an important position as goalie. He ran over to the goal and stood there, waiting excitedly for the ball to come his way. The kids kept the ball mostly on the other end of the field, and soon little Harry got bored. He was thinking about other things, like why his aunt and uncle were so scared of "the M word," and whether or not he was going to get locked in the cupboard again this afternoon when suddenly he heard "Watch it scar-face!" from a few feet in front of him. He looked up just in time to for the soccer ball to hit him square in the nose, snapping his glasses.

Harry bent down and started searching for the broken glasses. His face grew redder and redder as the jeers grew louder. He felt the sting of a small cut on his nose where the frames had hit him, and it was all he could do to hold back tears, but he was determined not to cry in front of these bullies. He hoped they would go away, but they just stood there, laughing. Forgetting his embarrassment Little Harry began to get angry at them for being so mean.

"Ow!" someone yelled. Looking over, Harry saw an ant pile right under Dudley's foot. "What's going on? That wasn't there earlier!" Dudley cried as he hopped up and down. Harry giggled at the sudden turn of events, and soon more ant piles began sprouting up near all of the kids who had just been laughing.

On the way home from school later, Dudley whined to his mom that "Harry was mad because we're better at soccer than him and he made ants bite all of us!"

"How did you do that?" Aunt Petunia asked Harry sharply, angrily.

"I didn't!" Harry replied defensively. "They just started popping up!"

"On their own?" questioned Aunt Petunia.

"Y-yes," whined Harry, knowing better than to say it was like magic. He couldn't figure out why all this weird stuff happened around him.

"Well, we'll see what your uncle has to say about this," sighed Petunia.

That evening at dinner, Dudley piped up and said, "Daddy! Harry made weird stuff happen again today!"

"What did you do this time boy?" growled Vernon, immediately turning purple.

"I-i-i didn't do anything!" Harry cried.

"He did Daddy! Make him go to time out!" Dudley whined.

"Don't lie to me boy. Without us you'd be in the orphan house. Remember that when you're speaking to me," Vernon admonished Harry.

"I'm not lying! Dudley and his friends were being mean and all of a sudden ant piles started piling up all over the place! Why don't you believe me?" he shouted.

"We do not shout in this house Harry," Vernon said, though he was shouting himself. Harry was frustrated now.

"It's not fair!" he yelled even louder this time, and the silverware drawer banged open and shut, causing everybody to jump.

"That's it!" Vernon roared. "Go back to your cupboard. No dessert for you tonight."

"I never get dessert," whined little Harry, stalking off.

As he left, he could hear his pig cousin saying, "Mommy, can I have Harry's dessert?" and his Aunt allowing it whole heartedly.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi guys- here's chapter four. Sorry they keep being so short! The next one will be longer, i promise. Anyway, thanks for the reviews, keep 'em coming!**

**Chapter Four**

As he taped up his glasses back in the cupboard, little Harry decided that maybe he liked there. He could play in his magic world without getting in trouble, and weird things didn't happen very often when he was in there. He knew he wasn't magic, but he wished so hard he was. Then he could make everybody be nice to him.

The next day at recess, Dudley and his friends were teasing Harry again. "Leave me alone!" He said, trying to get them to go away. But they wouldn't stop. Suddenly a girl Harry had seen but never talked to before pushed through the boys and stood next to Harry.

"Go away meanies!" she yelled, startling the boys.

"Why should we?" asked one of them.

"Because if not I'll tell the teacher and you'll have to sit in time out!" the little girl replied defiantly.

"C'mon guys, let's go," said Dudley. "She's got cooties anyway." With that the boys turned around and went to play tag on the other side of the playground, leaving Harry alone with the strange girl.

"I'm Melanie," she said to him.

"I'm—"

"Harry Potter, I know" she interrupted him. "Do you wanna be friends?"  
"Okay," said Harry, a little shyly.

Harry and his new friend spent recess playing tag and hide-and-seek and he went home from school that day content. This had been the best day he could ever remember, and he couldn't wait to see Melanie again tomorrow.

The Next Day at Recess

"My mommy says you're famous," said Melanie suddenly.

"What?" asked Harry, confused.

"Yeah," she said if you were anybody else you would've died with your mommy and daddy. But all you got is a scar."

"Oh. Why does that make me famous?" Harry was really confused now. His parents had died in a car crash for goodness sakes!

"She said you're the only one ever to survive something like that."

"Whatever," said Harry, anxious to drop the subject because he felt like they were talking about two different things. He knew his parents died in a car crash and lots of people had survived those. C'mon, Uncle Vernon was in one just last week, and he was just as alive as ever. "Let's play tag."

"Okay!" Mel agreed. "You're it!"


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi guys! So when it says "The Next Week" that was originally going to be the start of chapter 6 but i decided to make it part of chapter five instead. **

**Thanks for the awesome reviews, though there are a couple I need to clear up. Yes, Miranda is supposed to be Minerva McGonagall's daughter, sister, cousin, whatever. Yes, I realize Harry didn't get glasses till the last minute, but I'm not going completely by canon. Also, Melanie didn't realize Harry was being abused when she saw his room because she's five years old. She wouldn't understand that.**

**Last but not least: if you want to criticize the story you don't have to do it anonymously. I'm not going to get mad and hunt you down and killyou or anything. I seriously might take your advice and want to thank you.**

**Now, read on:

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****Chapter Five**

One day a couple of weeks later, Dudley had some of his bulky friends over. Harry, hiding in the cupboard to avoid getting beaten up again, had an idea. Maybe if he promised they wouldn't bother anybody, Aunt Petunia would let Melanie come over for a play date. He knew it was a long-shot, but he would try, later tonight after dinner. They always seemed to be nicer after a couple of drinks.

Later that Night

"Aunt Petunia?" Harry asked tentatively.

"Yes?" His aunt replied rather sharply.

"Would it be okay if maybe I had a friend over after school tomorrow?"  
"What sort of friend?" Petunia seemed a little suspicious.

"A friend from school named Melanie," he replied.

At this moment, Dudley skipped into the room singing, "Harry's got a girlfriend! Harry's got a girlfriend!"

"That's enough Dudders." Both Harry and his cousin were shocked because this was the first time either of them had heard Petunia even coming close to reprimanding Dudley. Then, turning to Harry, Petunia said, "Harry, why would you want to have a friend over? You have my Duddey-kins to play with."

Ignoring the terrified half-snort half-scream from his pig-headed cousin, Little Harry said, "Dudley has his friends over a lot of times and I thought it looked like fun." It didn't look like Aunt Petunia was convinced, so Harry added a "Please Aunt Petunia? I promise we won't be noisy and bother you."

He gave his hard-hearted aunt the sweetest expression he could muster, and she had to give in. "Okay. Her mother can drop her off at our house after school and her mother can pick her back up before dinner. That gives you two hours to play."

"Thank you!" he said, taking the risk and giving her a big hug. "I'll go call her now!"

Melanie's mom picked up the phone on the third ring. "Hello?"

"Hi," began little Harry, "is this Melanie's mommy?"

"Yes," she replied, laughing. "And who might I be talking to?"

"This is Harry Potter. Can I please talk to Melanie?" at this, Harry heard the sound of the phone dropping on the other end.

Recovering the phone, Melanie's mom said, "I'm sorry dear, you shocked me. Did you say Harry _Potter_?"

"Yes ma'am," he replied, confused. "Is Melanie there?"

"Oh, yes of course, please forgive me, I've forgotten my manners. I'll go get her."

"Hi Harry!" said Melanie excitedly, coming to the phone a minute later.

"Hi. My aunt said you could come over tomorrow after school if you wanted." Harry was a little nervous. He had never talked to anybody on the phone before, much less invited someone to his house.

"I would love to!" Let me ask my mommy. Hold on a second

"My mommy said I can come! Where's your house?"

Harry was delighted. Melanie was his first friend ever. "Yay!" he squealed. "It's number Four Privet Drive."

"Okay," replied Mel. "I'll see you at school tomorrow then."

"Okay bye," Harry said, and he hung up the phone.

"So," Uncle Vernon had come up behind Harry, making him jump. "You've got a friend coming tomorrow huh?"

"Yeah" Harry answered.

"Well, there'll be none of that 'funny business' while she's here. Got it?"

"Yes sir," Harry replied, opting not to let his uncle know that he had no clue what _funny business_ was.

The Next Day

Harry had gotten home from school and he'd been worrying constantly since then. _What if she forgot? What if her mommy decided not to let her come?_ He was positively sure that she wasn't going to show up. Then the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it!" he shouted. And it wasn't hard for him to beat Dudley or his aunt to the door as he'd been sitting anxiously right in front of it. He pulled the door open to see Melanie and her mom standing there expectantly. "Hello Melanie, Melanie' mommy. Come on in!"

"Why thank you! You must be Harry," said Mel's mom. When Harry nodded she continued in a whisper, "May I please see your scar?" Harry obliged, wondering why the scar was so interesting. People stopped on the street to stare at it frequently and he never could understand. "Well," she said, standing back up, "it's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Harry Potter."

Aunt Petunia walked into the room just then, her graceful hostess face on. "Hello," she said pleasantly, "You must be Melanie, and you must be her mother."

"Yes," replied Mel's mom graciously, "It's a pleasure to meet you Mrs…"

"Dursley, but call me Petunia" Petunia replied with a smile. Though the hostess face came out every time there was company, it never ceased to amaze Harry how polite and sweet she could be.

"Well, nice to meet you Petunia," she said, offering a hand, "I'm Miranda McGonagall." Petunia blanched slightly at the name, but quickly regained her composure.

"May I offer you something to drink?" she said.

"No thank you, I'd better get going," Mrs. McGonagall declined the offer politely. "What time should I come back for Melanie?"

"Around six o'clock would be fine. Is that alright with you?"

"That sounds perfect. See you then! By Melanie, be on your best behavior."  
"Yes mommy," said little Melanie, giving her mom a kiss on the cheek before she left. Then, turning to Harry, "What should we play?"

"Do you wanna see my room?" Harry was beside himself with excitement.

"Okay!" and Harry grabbed her by the hand and led her to his cupboard, which he had cleaned up just for this occasion.

"It's really small," said Melanie when they got there.

"But it's safe," replied Harry.

Melanie gave him a funny look before changing the subject. "Let's play with these blocks!"

"Okay," agreed Harry, pulling them off the shelf.

The two built elaborate castles and cities until Petunia knocked on the door. "Melanie dear? Your mother's here."

"Already?" Mel asked, opening the door.

"Yes," Petunia replied with a smile. "Time flies doesn't it?"

"Okay Harry, I guess I'd better go," Melanie walked out of the cupboard.

"Okay," Harry followed her to the door and, before she left she gave him a big hug. "I'll see you tomorrow," he said, closing the door behind her.

Next Week

Petunia Dursley, intent on spying on her neighbor's fight with her husband, jumped when the phone rang. "Hello?" she barked.

"Petunia? This is Miranda McGonagall, Melanie's mom. How are you doing?"

"Oh yes, Miranda. Good to hear from you," replied Petunia with very little enthusiasm.

"Well, I won't keep you long but I wanted to thank you for having my little Melanie come over the other day. She's so happy to have finally made a good friend. The fact that it's the famous Harry Potter just amazes me. You must be so proud of your nephew."

Petunia was confused. "Famous? Proud? What are you talking about?"

"Why, how he defeated You-Know-Who when he was only one year old of course! Nobody else has ever survived that curse!"

"Are you one of _them_ then?" asked Petunia.

"Why, of course," replied Miranda, "but don't worry, we're not one of those families who hates muggles."

"You don't hate _what?"_ cried Aunt Petunia, not understanding why this woman was calling her a muggle.

"Non-magic folk," she replied patiently, then, "oh! Dear me, look at the time! I won't keep you any longer, but maybe we'll see each other around school sometime."

"Oh, Harry won't be attending your daughter's school anymore," Petunia said, and hung up the phone, her heart beating fast at the prospect of Harry finding out what he really was.

"Vernon!" she yelled and he came wandering in.

"What Petunia?" he grumbled.

"Harry's friend is one of _them_."  
"What!" Vernon roared.

"We can't let him go to school with her anymore."

"Do you think he knows what he is?" Vernon whispered.

"I don't think so, but we should keep him at home for a few weeks before we decide what to do."


	6. Chapter 6

**Okay, here's another chapter. Sorry it's short. I'm running out of ideas. Writing from the perspective of a five year old is really difficult! I'm not sure I like this chapter as much, but I'm going to keep on truckin with this story... at least for a little while. Constructive criticism is definitely appreciated!**

**By the way, I don't own any of these characters... too bad.**

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**Chapter Six**

When the Dursleys told Harry He couldn't go to school or see Melanie anymore, he was crushed. He had made his first friend and now he couldn't see her anymore? He did what any other upset five year old would do: he decided to run away. He yelled to Aunt Petunia that he was going to play in the front yard and walked out the door. Instead of stopping in the yard though, he kept going, on down his street.

He felt like he'd been walking for such a long time. It was cold outside and he was thirsty and tired. He looked back, and was amazed, yet upset, that he could still see his house. He looked up at the street sign and saw that it still said "Privet Drive." Frustrated, he sat down on the ground and started to cry. A few minutes later, he got vack up, flinging his right arm out to stop himself from falling over.

All of a sudden a purple streak came racing up, stopping right in front of him to reveal a big bus. A man of about thirty stepped out of the bus.

"Hello" he said, reading off of a card, "My name is Scott Shunpike and I'll be your conductor this evening on the Knight Bus."

"What?" said Harry, stepping back. He was a little scared. The Dursleys always said that there was no such thing as magic. But what was this then?

"Aren't you a little young to be getting on?" asked Mr. Shunpike. Harry didn't say anything, but looked up with his big eyes.

"Well, come on," he continued impatiently. When little Harry shook his head, the conductor continued, "It's alright, just tell me where you want to go and I'll take you there."

Harry began to climb on board when he heard a voice from down the street yelling "Harry! Stop! Don't get on that bus!" Climbing back down the stairs, he looked around to see an old women with a cane hobbling down the street at an amazing speed.

"Excuse me Shunpike. What are you thinking taking little ones like this on that bus of yours?"

"He called us. He stuck out his wand arm. What was I supposed to do?"

"Leave." The old woman took Harry by the hand and began leading him to her house. "What are you doing out here alone Harry dear?"

"Who are you?" he asked, confused.

She got Harry two chocolate chip cookies out of a jar and a glass of milk. Her house smelled like mothballs and there were cats all over the place. "My name is Mrs. Figg," she said kindly. "Eat your cookies and let's get you home."

Mrs. Figg walked Harry back home and he was told to go straight to his cupboard, wishing he could hear what Mrs. Figg was telling Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon.

8

"Harry has had a run-in with the magical world," she told them.

"What?" Vernon cried, turning purple.

"Yes. He has seen the Knight bus, which is a method of transportation that wizards used when they are unable or not allowed to apparate. He was about to get on it, but I stopped him because I knew that Dumbledore would not want him to go anywhere without you two knowing, especially by magic. But you can't hide his powers from him forever. Things are going to happen, things he can't control. He'll know that something is up. Dumbledore owled me that you've taken him out of school. You have to continue his education. We don't care what school he goes to as long as he comes home every day. No boarding school. He must live with you."

"Oh, alright. We'll put him back in school," said Petunia grudgingly.

"But we'll not tell him about his magic powers, and I don't want him to have any memory of what has happened."

"You know I can't modify his memory by myself, but I'll arrange for Dumbledore to do it. You'll probably be hearing from him soon anyway," she countered, and left the house.


	7. Chapter 7

**Okeydokey, here's chapter seven. Sorry it took so long to write, life's been crazy. Anyway, hope you enjoy.**

**By the way, I don't own any of these characters yet except little Melanie and her mommy, but when i take over the world they will all be mine! **

**haha just kidding.

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****Chapter 7**

_Dear Vernon and Petunia,_

_I hope this letter finds you well. Mrs. Figg has explained yesterday's fortunate occurrences to me. While I agree with her that you should tell Harry of his background before his eleventh birthday, I respect your wishes and have modified Harry's memory so that he will remember everything only as a dream. _

_I suppose you have also guessed as to the identity of your lovely neighbor. She is not, however, a witch, but a squib. She cannot do more than basic magic and I have asked her to move into your neighborhood in order to help ensure Harry's safety. I must request that you use this lady as a babysitter whenever you are in need of one. She will take excellent care of Harry and, as I fear that difficult times lie ahead, it is the best thing to do for now. _

_As to whether or not you tell Harry his identity or that of Mrs. Figg, I leave the decision up to you, but I strongly suggest that it is done soon._

_Sincerely,_

_Albus Dumbledore_

"Well," said Petunia, "remember what happened last time we tried to go against Dumbledore's wishes."

"Yes, yes," grumbled Vernon in reply. "But we won't tell him what she is. What was the word? Squid?"

"Squib I believe," corrected Aunt Petunia, looking at the letter again. "Yes, that's it. But whatever she is, she's bad news."

"She'll probably curse us all. She's probably in cahoots with all those cults from five, six years ago," and with that, Vernon got up and went to Harry's cupboard to see if this old crackpot's 'spell' had actually worked. "Wake up boy!" he shouted through the keyhole.

"Yes sir," he said groggily then, "What's a knight bus?"

"What?" his uncle roared, worried that Harry remembered what had happened.

"N-never mind," little Harry stammered. "I had a dream about one last night."  
"Whatever," he grumbled, satisfied with the answer, and stalked off.

A couple of weeks later, Petunia announced at the dinner table that both Harry and Dudley would be going to a new school, St. Anthony's. Dudley, who didn't know about Harry or little Melanie, whined and complained. "Why? I like my school."

"We don't want you to have to be around the riff raff Harry calls his friends," explained Uncle Vernon with a nasty look at Harry.

"Melanie's not riff raff! She's my friend! Why do I have to change schools?" Harry was whining too.

"Don't argue with us boy!" Vernon said angrily. "We know what we're doing."

"It's not fair!" shouted the two little ones at the same time. Then, shooting each other dirty looks, they both stalked off to their rooms.

Harry didn't understand why his aunt and uncle thought Melanie was bad. She never had to go to time out and she always had the right answers in class. Plus little Harry thought she was really pretty, but he was too nervous to tell her. He decided to call his friend and tell her what happened.

"Melanie's Mommy?" he asked when she picked up the phone, "This is Harry. Can I talk to Melanie please?"

"Sure Harry, let me go get her," replied Mrs. McGonagall warmly.

Melanie came to the phone a minute later and Harry told her what happened. "My aunt and uncle are making me change schools. They don't like you or your mommy so I'm not supposed to talk to you guys anymore," he said, beginning to cry a little bit.

"Why don't they like us?"

"They won't tell me."

"Oh. Well, I'm glad you told me. Do you think we can still be friends?"

"I don't know. We can try."

"Okay, bye Harry."  
"Bye Melanie."

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**Yes, it's short, but i like them that way. When i try to make them long they get draggy.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Alright, I know I'd ended this a little abruptly, so I decided to write a SHORT something to tie it up a little better. So I hope you like it. **

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Little Harry didn't know what to do with himself. His aunt and uncle had put him in a new school and made sure he got in the "Special Ed" class. Harry couldn't figure out exactly what that was. His teacher said it was just for _kids with special needs_, and Uncle Vernon said it was for _ungrateful idiots who are too stupid to learn with other kids_. Either way, he didn't know why he was in it. All the kids were mean, and his cousin had managed to make a new group of friends to pick on Harry.

He missed Melanie. She was the only person who had ever been nice to him and now he didn't get to see her again. He had tried to ask his Aunt Petunia several times why they didn't like her, but she wouldn't say anything except that she was 'riff raff' and she set a bad example for Harry.

He just didn't understand. Why did his aunt and uncle hate him so much? And why wouldn't they talk about the scar on his forehead? What were these weird things that kept happening to him? No other kids ever suddenly developed lightning speed when they were running away from bullies, or set whole anthills against their cousins.

Oh well, maybe someday he would find out.

**6 years later**

Well, you know the story.


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